Space Monster Wangmagwi (also known as Big Monster Wangmagwi or Devil King, the Space Monster in some regional releases) is a 1967 Korean kaiju film and notably the oldest surviving kaiju movie made in South Korea, beating Yongary by a couple of months. It also broke a record in the number of extras employed in a Korean movie at its time of release. though despite the movie's scale and budget it was nearly lost through time due to lack of releases in VHS or DVD, until it was re-distributed in 2022.
Aliens from Planet Gamma have set their sights on Earth, and dispatched their bio-weapon, the eponymous Wangmagwi, to attack Earth's cities starting with Seoul. A Korean air force pilot, Oh Jeong-wan, who's preparing his wedding with his fiancée Ahn-hee, is inevitably caught in the chaos, especially when Wangmagwi starts having its sights on Ahn-hee.
Korea will make another King Kong-esque monster film, A*P*E, nearly a decade later, which turns out to be far more memorable than Wangmagwi.
Space Monster Wangmagwi contain examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Oh Jeong-wan the hero is a maverick in the Korean air force and leads their squadron against the titular monster. He even lasts longer than most of his squadmates.
- Achilles' Heel: Late in the film, it turns out Wangmagwi has a sole weakness in the radio receiver on it's back, which allows the Gamma aliens to control it. Damaging said receiver will weaken the monster, and of course Jeong-wan is the only pilot skilled enough to target it.
- Adorably Precocious Child: Spider, the child urchin, who's way more matured than any kid his age should be. From actually putting up a serious fight against the kaiju Wangmagwi, to lamenting that the adults aren't doing anything to battle the monster threat save for panicking like cowards.
- Aliens Are Bastards: Gamma Aliens have their sights on earth, so they drop a kaiju upon us just because.
- Antagonist Title: Wangmagwi is the Space Monster who spends most of it's screentime terrorizing Seoul.
- Colossus Climb: As Wangmagwi tries crushing on a boy (nicknamed "Spider", how appropriate), Spider managed to evade the monster by climbing up it's arm and somehow hide himself inside Wangmagwi's ear. Further complicating Oh Jeong-wan's mission, because now he needs to save his bride Ahn-hee and the kid Spider.
- Crowd Panic: As expected in a kaiju film, there's the civilains in Seoul losing it when Wangmagwi begins tearing the city down.
- Defeat Equals Explosion: Wangmagwi, who somehow explodes upon deactivation.
- Ear Ache: While trapped within Wangmagwi's ear, Spider managed to harm the monster by stabbing it's eardrum.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Gamma Aliens who controls Wangmagwi are the film's true antagonists, who lets their kaiju perform all sorts of destruction on their behalf.
- Happily Adopted: Spider, into the family of Oh Jeong-wan and Ahn-hee after their wedding, though the kid's less of a child but closer to a younger brother.
- Hazmat Suit: The Gamma Aliens are depicted as wearing radioactive suits in the entirety of their screentime, and we don't get to see how they truly looks like. A close-up on one of them reveals the Gamma to be Human Aliens when the audience gets to see the actor's face through the suit's visor (either that or a legitimate filming goof).
- Head Blast: Wangmagwi can fire explosive sprays from it's forehead.
- Improbable Infant Survival: A little boy nicknamed "Spider" gets snatched off his feet by Wangmagwi, but survives by climbing into the monster's ear. He then gets snorted out Wangmagwi's nose and ends up in the same palm as Ahn-hee who's being carried by the monster before getting rescued by Jeong-wan.
- Killer Space Monkey: Wangmagwi is a killer space kaiju monkey.
- King Kong Copy: Unlike it's direct cinematic competitor, the Godzilla-like Yonggary, Wangmagwi on the other hand has more ape-like features and resembles a kaiju-sized simian. There's also the monster developing feelings for the female lead Ahn-hee and snatching her in it's paws.
- Make My Monster Grow: Wangmagwi is a tiny, spore-like creature when the Gamma aliens drops it on Earth's surface. And then they remotely enlarge it using their tech making the monster increase in size.
- Pet Monstrosity: Wangmagwi is one of these to the Gamma aliens, destroying Earth's cities under it's masters' commands.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: The Gamma aliens, near the end of the film, after deciding Earth is too much of an obstacle and flee back to whichever planet they're from, leaving Wangmagwi to it's fate.
